Good As I Was To You
by Movaca
Summary: Prequal to Down in Flames chapters 10 and 11 have been changed slightly. More to come soon.
1. Default Chapter

*~* Chapter 1 *~*   
  
Kayla sat at a corner table at Mario's. She hated the first night in a new town. She hated trying to find her way around to the good restaurants and shops. She was sipping on a Manhattan and reading the city guide trying to find some of the attractions. She was in town for a medical clinic under the supervision of Monica Quartermaine and would be here for a short time. When the waiter brought her entrée to her he noticed the city guide.   
  
"If you're looking for a better Italian restaurant, you're not going to find one in Port Charles. Mario's is the best," he said placing her plate in front of her.   
  
"Oh no…" she replied with a laugh, "I'm in town for a short time and I was looking for some of the attractions. Is there anything around worth seeing?" she asked.   
  
"Well, just outside of town, there is an exquisite view of the city overlooking the harbor."   
  
"I'll have to check it out. Thank you."   
  
"Certainly, would you like another Manhattan?" he asked.   
  
"Yes, please." She responded turning to her eggplant parmesan and the city guide.   
  
Just as she began to eat, she noticed a familiar man enter the restaurant and speak with the Maitre'de. He had a beautiful young woman on his arm. The couple looked so handsome together, although she thought the woman was a bit young for him. She put her head down quickly when they began to walk toward her. She was hoping not be recognized and of course, they had to be seated at the table next to hers. This was the one man that she had hoped not to run into, although she knew his family was from Port Charles.   
  
She felt her body begin to fill with envy as she watched him with this young woman. She couldn't help but to listen to their conversation. "May I start you off with a drink?" the waiter asked them.   
  
"Water with lemon for me please." The young woman responded.   
  
"Root beer for me," he told the waiter.   
  
"Root beer," Kayla thought to herself "whatever happened to Bourbon on the rocks."   
  
The waiter returned with their drinks, ready to take their order. "Are you ready to order, Sir?"   
  
"Yes, I believe we are…the stuff manicotti for the lady and Penne Pasta for myself, please," He said.   
  
The young lady smiled, "how did you know that stuffed manicotti is my favorite?" she asked.   
  
"Simple, I am learning everything there is to know about you. It's my job, you know." He responded nonchalantly with a smile.   
  
Kayla rolled her eyes at the statement and whispered to herself "if this gets anymore sickening sweet, it is going to give me a cavity." She looked at the young woman who made a slight giggle at his comment. As Kayla studied her, she determined that she couldn't have been any older than 27 or 28. Then she noticed the engagement ring on her finger. The sight of that ring tied her stomach in a knot. "He's engaged?" she whispered to herself, in disbelief. "I can't believe this…"   
  
"So, fill me in on the wedding plans…" the man said to the young woman.   
  
"Everything is pretty much taken care of. I still can't believe I let you talk me into this big wedding."   
  
"You can have anything that you want. We can make the biggest must attend event of the year in Port Charles. Even bigger than the Nurse's ball," he smiled.   
  
"Well, we've already reserved the same room and caterers."   
  
"Already been talking to Lucy, I take it," he said with a smile.   
  
"If you want to plan an event right, talk to Lucy…but, a big wedding like that is going to cost a lot money," she insisted.   
  
"Oh come on…how many times do I have to tell you…don't worry about the money. I am paying for the whole thing. It's the very least that I can do."   
  
"I know you keep saying that…but…"   
  
"No buts…I'm in charge and what I say goes."   
  
Kayla couldn't believe her ears. He was planning a big gala event for his wedding. How could he do this? How could he just move on like that? She was quickly forming a not to flattering opinion of this young woman. She knew what this young woman was about. She wanted a rich older man and she found him. He had fallen for the oldest trick in the book; since when is Scott Baldwin that stupid.   
  
"Is Serena excited about the wedding?" the young woman asked.   
  
"Of course she is…I don't think that she has stopped talking about it since you asked her to be in it."   
  
Kayla's thoughts quickly turned to Serena. How could he do this to that little girl? He was bringing this gold digger into his house with that precious little girl. This woman was barely an adult herself, how could she possibly be a mother to Serena.   
  
Kayla couldn't take it any longer. She was going to tell him just what she thought of him. She took one last sip of her drink before rising and heading to his table. Anger was raging throughout her body, but she remained calm as walked up beside him. "Well…if it isn't Scott Baldwin…" she announced. "How have you been?"   
  
"Kayla…hi…" he said beginning to stand up.   
  
"No, please don't get up on my account. I just came by to congratulate you."   
  
"Congratulate me?" he asked looking puzzled at the young woman sitting across from him.   
  
"On your wedding…So, I guess this is what I get right?"   
  
"Kayla…I don't…" he started only to be interrupted. So he decided to just let her speak her mind. As the restaurant grew quiet as everyone stared at them.   
  
"The last time that I saw you, you told me that you were only going to be gone for a couple of days. Then, I never heard from you again. I guess this is the way that it's done, eh, Scott?"   
  
"Um…don't you think…." The young woman started looking at Scott. Scott quickly put up his hand and shook his head to cut her off mid sentence.   
  
"Oh you have her listening to you quite well. Well, honey, you sure look good but you will never be as good to him as I was." Kayla grunted.   
  
"Excuse me…" the woman began in defense but then interrupted by Scott.   
  
"Karen, calm down," Scott said placing his hand on hers smiling.   
  
"Oh so that's her name…Karen…I bet you're after his money, right?"   
  
"Well actually, there is the trust fund." Karen replied.   
  
Scott put his hand up and shook his head trying to stop Karen from engaging in a public argument, "Karen…"   
  
"Trust fund? You work rather quickly, don't you." Kayla retorted.   
  
"Well it took some doing, but I finally found my sugar daddy." Karen replied with a sly smile pulling a sugar packet out the holder at the side of the table. Scott began to chuckle at his daughter's comment and action.   
  
"Well, I'll tell you right now, honey, he's not worth it. All he does is love them and leave them."   
  
"Kayla, could we plea…" Scott started as he jumped up from his seat, but was only cut off by Karen.   
  
"Well he is stuck with me for, at least, the rest of his life. Isn't that right?" Karen replied glancing at Scott. Scott nodded as the waiter came over to ask if he could bring another chair.   
  
"No, thank you, I was just leaving…"   
  
Scott turned to the waiter, "bring the chair, please."   
  
"No, I'm leaving. Honey, you can have him, I don't need him anymore," she said as she turned and exited the restaurant at a fast pace.   
  
Scott ran out into the lobby to try to catch her, so that he could explain, but it was too late. She had already walked out of the door. He put his head down and returned to his dinner with Karen.   
  
"What was that all about?" Karen asked when he returned.   
  
"Kayla and I were dating back when I was in Canada," he explained. "When Serena disappeared, I just took off…"   
  
"And you decided to stay here and never went back to set things straight with her…" Karen said finishing his sentence.   
  
"Something like that…" he said looking towards the lobby. "I don't know why she's in town, but I'm sure I'll run into her again soon. Maybe next time she'll let me get a word in edgewise."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Just outside the door of the restaurant, Kayla stopped and leaned against the wall. She put her head back as tears rolled down her face. "Why him…" she said to herself. "Why do I let him work me up like this?"   
  
"Having a rough day?" she heard from a young man standing next to her. She lifted her head from the wall and looked at his deep brown eyes. "You could say that, I guess." She replied.   
  
"Well why don't you let me take you to Kelly's and buy you a cup of coffee? It looks like we could both use it." He offered holding out his arm for her.   
  
"No, thank you. I think I'm just going to go back to my hotel and try to forget that this day ever happened."   
  
"Ah…new in town, eh? Well in that case, you definitely need to go to Kelly's. The apple pie there cures all your ailments." He said with a smile.   
  
She couldn't resist the big smile that he had on his face. He seemed so friendly and kind. "Okay, why not…I'm Kayla."   
  
"Great…it's a pleasure to meet you Kayla, I'm John," he said as she loop her arm with his and they walked down the sidewalk towards Kelly's.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Eve walked into the on-call room and flopped down on the couch next to Chris who was flipping through a medical journal.   
  
"What's with you?" he asked. "Have a hard day?"   
  
"Ah, like you care…not so much a hard day, just a long one," she replied slightly lifting the corner of his journal to see what he was reading. "So, you have cold feet yet?"   
  
"About what?" he asked.   
  
"About the wedding you, moron…"   
  
"Oh, no. Karen has it all planned. I just need to show up." He said returning to the article he was reading.   
  
"Typical man." Eve said with a smirk.   
  
Chris put the medical journal down and turned to Eve with a huge smile painted on his face. "Honestly," he started, "I can't wait. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Karen. I can't believe that I found a woman as great as her. She brings out things in me, that I never knew existed."   
  
"She does have a gift to bring out the best in anyone." Eve replied.   
  
"Yeah, a gift I'm sure she didn't inherit from her father," he replied.   
  
"Oh, come on, Scott's not that bad. He can be a bit overbearing and hard to take sometimes, but he will never stand in the way of anything that makes his children happy. Think about it, he's paying for the entire thing, right?"   
  
"I think he's doing that more for Karen, than for me. Scott Baldwin has never like me and he never will."   
  
"The way I see it…he doesn't have to like you. Only Karen has to like you. And you know Karen, she isn't about to give up what she wants just to please him. She never has and she never will. She's just as hotheaded and stubborn as he is."   
  
"I guess you're right," Chris said as his pager went off. "Oh, that's the ER, I'll talk to you later." He said as he left Eve alone I the on-call room.   
  
Eve picked up the journal that Chris was reading then threw it back done on the table. "Men are so boring," she said as she got up to take a shower and head home for the evening.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Kayla and John sat in a corner booth at Kelly, sipping coffee and eating Kelly's famous apple pie. John could tell that something was really bothering her but wasn't sure that he could get her to open up to a complete stranger.   
  
"So what brings you to Port Charles?" he finally asked.   
  
"I'm here for a medical clinic being instructed by Dr. Quartermaine."   
  
"Dr. Quartermaine? Alan or Monica?" he asked.   
  
"Monica," she said with surprise, "You know them?"   
  
"Ah, yeah, I do. They are close friends with my ex-wife's family. I haven't seen them in years though."   
  
"There's that word…" she said with a frown.   
  
"What word is that?" he asked with concern   
  
"Ex…"   
  
"Is that what made it such a bad day for you?"   
  
"That did it…" she finally said. "I ran into my ex-fiancée at Mario's. We were living happily in Canada and his daughter was kidnapped. When he went off to find her, he told me he would be back in a few days…."   
  
"He never came back I take it?" John asked with obvious interest.   
  
"No he never came back. And to make matters worse, I see that he is engaged to this bimbo who is young enough to be his daughter. I know she is just a gold digger who is after his money," she began as she just let her frustration flow.   
  
"Ah…I see" he began.   
  
"He is planning this huge wedding. The must attend event of Port Charles. I just don't understand, how could he just leave me like that and never think twice about it?" she asked more to herself than to John.   
  
"He sounds like a jerk to me. I wouldn't let him get the best of you. I realize that it must hurt to see this happening. But you've moved on, and for the better it looks like to me. A talented doctor who is about to study under one of the world's best Cardiologist. I think you have your priorities right where you want them. If I were you, I would just tell him to kiss off." He said with a defiant smile.   
  
Kayla couldn't help but to laugh. "Your right, John. I am better off without him."   
  
"See there, every once in a while, I know what I'm talking about." 


	2. Chapter 2

*~* Chapter 2 *~*   
  
"Hey there, gorgeous! How are you this morning?" Chris said coming up to Karen from behind.   
  
"Great now that you're here…" she replied with a smile.   
  
"How did your dinner go with your dad last night?"   
  
"Not too bad, however this woman came up to him as started railing into him about leaving her when he was in Canada…it was really strange." She explained.   
  
"Wow, that was years ago." He said in disbelief.   
  
"I know, apparently she is in town for some reason, and when she ran into him, she just went off."   
  
"Only your dad," he said shaking his head as Monica Quartermaine approached Chris and Karen at the desk.   
  
"Good morning, doctors," Monica announced. "I would like to meet Dr. Kayla Preston. She will be here for a few months working with me in a clinic."   
  
Karen turned around and her jaw dropped when she saw Kayla. She quickly regained her composure and smile to greet Kayla.   
  
"Kayla, this is Dr. Karen Wexler and Dr. Chris Ramsey. They are residents here at GH." Monica introduced.   
  
Karen held out her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Preston" she said trying not to let onto her surprise.   
  
"You too," Kayla replied turning to Chris. "Dr. Ramsey, it's a pleasure."   
  
"The pleasure is all mine," he said holding out his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay here at GH and Port Charles."   
  
"Thank you. I'm sure we'll meet again."   
  
As Monica and Kayla walked away, Chris turned to see Karen just staring at Kayla as she walked down the hall. "Karen, you can pick your jaw up off of the floor…what's going on with you?"   
  
"That's her, Chris."   
  
"That's who?"   
  
"Her…the woman that laid into my Dad at Mario's…" she explained.   
  
Chris shook his head as he picked up some charts, "I can see this is going to be a fun couple of months. I guess now we know why she is in town."   
  
"That's funny, my Dad didn't say that she was a doctor."   
  
"Maybe she wasn't at the time. Maybe she was just in Med School when they were dating. She is here to study under Monica." Chris tried to reason.   
  
"I don't know…this is getting stranger by the minute."   
  
"Oh, speaking of your strange family…your grandmother was looking for you. Something about your Aunt and Uncle in Pennsylvania won't be able to make it to the wedding."   
  
"Oh…okay…I'll stop in her office after rounds." Karen said as she walked away with her charts in hand.   
  
Chris shook his head, "And I'm going to marry into this family…" he said to himself as he began his rounds as well.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Kayla rounded the corner of the hospital toward the nurse's station, when she saw John standing there leaning on the counter.   
  
"John, hey, what are you doing here, I thought you had a job interview today?" she asked announcing her presence.   
  
"Oh, hey Kayla. Yeah I had the interview this morning. I should know tonight whether I got the job or not. I stopped by to take my sister to lunch. She is a nurse here. How is your first day going?" He asked.   
  
Kayla frowned and looked down at the floor. "About as well as yesterday," she confessed.   
  
"Oh, why? What happened?"   
  
"Remember my ex-fiancée's girlfriend I told you about?"   
  
"Yeah, what about her?"   
  
"Well I just found out that she is a doctor here. Talk about adding insult to injury."   
  
"You won't be working directly with her? Will you?" he asked.   
  
"No, not that I know of."   
  
"Ah…then don't worry about it. Just ignore her…Say, my sister isn't answering her page, why don't we go to lunch." He offered.   
  
"You know, I would like that. Thank you." She accepted.   
  
"My pleasure…" He took her arm and headed for the hospital exit.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Karen knocked on her grandmother's office door as she looked at the light at the top of the doorjamb to see if she was with a patient. When she heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door, she opened it slowly and popped her head through the crack before moving completely into the office.   
  
"Karen, hi…" Gail said getting up to give her oldest granddaughter a hug. "How are you?"   
  
"Hi Gail," Karen said hugging her back. "I'm fine, Chris said that you wanted to see me."   
  
"Oh, you didn't have to make a special trip down here. I just wanted to tell you that I spoke with Aunt Ilene last night. She wanted to call you personally but she didn't know when you would be working…She wanted to send her regrets that her and Uncle Tony can't make the wedding. They're afraid to make the trip with Uncle Tony's health the way it is."   
  
"Oh, that's okay. I understand."   
  
"She said that she sent out a gift for you and Chris. She didn't have your new address, so she sent it to your Dad's."   
  
"Okay, I'll get it from him when it comes. I think I have her address somewhere so that I can send her a Thank You note and a picture."   
  
"Oh, that would be nice, I'm sure she would enjoy that." Gail said.   
  
"Gail, can I ask you a question?"   
  
"Sure, honey, you can ask me anything…you know that."   
  
"How much do you know about Scott's life when he was living in Canada?"   
  
"Oh…not too much more than you, I'm afraid. We didn't have any contact with him the whole time that he was there. Why do you ask?"   
  
"No reason, really. I was just wondering. Have you met the new doctor working with Monica yet? Kayla Preston, I think is her name." Karen asked   
  
"Yes I have, Monica brought her by this morning. She seems very nice. I look forward to seeing her around the hospital."   
  
"And other places…" Karen mumbled looking away.   
  
"What was that?"   
  
"Oh…nothing. I have to get going. If you talk to Aunt Ilene again, tell her I hope Uncle Tony is feeling better soon."   
  
"I will honey…but you know your Grandpa's Brothers. You can't keep a stubborn Baldwin down." Gail said.   
  
"You got that right." Karen said laughing and hugging her grandmother. "I'll talk to you later."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Kayla and John sat at table in the Recovery Room, eating the sandwiches that they had ordered for lunch.   
  
"So," Kayla started " we did a lot of talking about me last night, so what about you? What's your story?"   
  
"There isn't too much of a story. I grew up in Port Charles, I moved away for a while but then decided to move back. That pretty much covers it." He replied.   
  
"That's it? Oh come on, there has to be more to you than that. You've already told me that you're divorced. How long have been divorced?" she asked.   
  
"A couple of years. Our marriage just didn't work out the way that we thought it would. I think our expectations of each other were too high," he explained. "She wanted one thing out of life and I wanted something else."   
  
"Any children?" Kayla asked.   
  
"No, we never had any. She always wanted them, but I never felt that I was ready. I think if we would've had children, it would've just been an attempt to make a failing marriage work and that's not good for the kids or the parents. My priorities were messed up at the time."   
  
"Is this regret that I hear?" Kayla asked sensing that there was more to this man's sensitive side.   
  
"Yeah, I think it is. It's like that old saying goes, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. I'm sorry that I ever let her go. But she's moved on with her life. I'm just a distant memory now."   
  
Kayla looked down at her watch noticing that she had to be back in five minutes. "Thank you for lunch. It was delicious. Lucky for me, you sister was busy," she said with a smile.   
  
"No, thank you for the company. I'll see you again soon I hope." 


	3. Chapter 3

~*~ Chapter 3 ~*~   
  
"Knock Knock…anybody in here?" Scott asked as he and Serena entered the on-call room.   
  
"Hey there…" Eve replied. "Hey girlfriend…haven't seen you in a while." She said giving Serena a high five.   
  
"I've been busy. Between school and the wedding, there hasn't been anytime for fun," Serena replied.   
  
"We're looking for Karen, is she in here?" Scott asked changing the subject.   
  
"Yeah…she's…"Eve started as Karen came out of the bathroom.   
  
"Yeah, I'm right here…Hey sis, Hey Scott…I'm almost ready to go." She said putting her things back in her locker.   
  
"So where are you two heading off to?" he asked Karen.   
  
"Well we have the fittings for both of our dresses. Then we might hit the mall. Is there anything that you need? We can pick it up while we're out."   
  
"Nope, I'm good. When do you think you'll be home?" he asked.   
  
Karen looked at Serena and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, probably around 7ish."   
  
"Sounds perfect, I'll have dinner waiting for us. Don't you two get into any trouble," he said grinning from ear to ear.   
  
"Who us?" Serena said looking at Karen.   
  
"Couldn't be…" Karen replied.   
  
"Alright you two, get going…" he said giving them both a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you girls later, love you."   
  
"We love you too, Dad," they said in unison as they walked out of the door.   
  
"Those two are so cute together," Eve said turning to Scott. "It's hard to believe that you're their father."   
  
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He said pretending that he was hurt by the comment.   
  
"You're a lucky man, Baldwin." Eve said as she walked out of the room leaving Scott alone. Scott smiled as he followed Eve out of the door. Turning the corner, he ran right into Gail.   
  
"Scotty, hi…" She greeted.   
  
"Oh…hi Gail. How are you?"   
  
Kayla stepped off of the elevator and went directly to the nurse station. She immediately noticed Scott and Gail standing in the corridor engaging in conversation. She moved as close as she could to them without being noticed in an attempt to listen to what they were talking about.   
  
"I'm fine, honey…did you just come from the on-call room?"   
  
"Ah…yeah I did…why?" he asked.   
  
"Is Karen in there? I wanted to talk to her."   
  
"No, she and Serena just left to go to the mall or fitting. I don't know something to do with the wedding," he attempted to explain. "Why? Is everything okay?"   
  
"Everything is fine, at least I think it is. Did you two have an argument or misunderstanding lately?"   
  
"No, Gail…Why? Is there is something wrong with Karen?"   
  
"I don't think that there is anything wrong,"   
  
"But…"   
  
"But she came to see me this morning, and she seemed a little 'out of sorts' if you will."   
  
"What do you mean by 'out of sorts'?" he asked with mounting concern.   
  
"She was asking me questions about your life when you were living in Canada. Questions that I couldn't answer…"   
  
"Aah…" he said nodding his head as he finally caught on, "I know what this is about. I'll talk to her tonight and get everything straightened out."   
  
"Care to explain it to your mother?" Gail asked.   
  
"Karen and I ran into an old friend of mine from Canada, that's all. I think it just sparked an interest."   
  
"Sparked an interest?" Gail repeated with skepticism.   
  
"I'm sure of it. I'll talk to her about it tonight at dinner. I'm cooking…You and Lee care to come over?"   
  
"Oh…no thank you, honey. We're actually going out with Alan and Monica."   
  
"Okay then…well tell them I said hello." He said before they parted ways.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Karen stood in front of the mirrors admiring her long flowing wedding gown. Serena, who was looking at some other dresses in the store, came back to see her sister standing there. "Oh my god, Karen…you look beautiful," she exclaimed.   
  
"Do you really like it?" she asked Serena.   
  
"I love it. I hope I look half as good as you do when I get married. Has Dad seen you in your gown yet?"   
  
"No, he hasn't come to any of the fittings. It's not exactly a thing that the father of the bride wants to sit through." Karen explained.   
  
Finally the tailor approached the sisters and began to make some adjustments to the gown. "It looks pretty good. I think we can bring it in about another ½ inch, right here," the tailor said pinching the material at her waist.   
  
"I think it could use another ¼ inch off of the bottom as well." Karen replied.   
  
"I think your right," she said pinning the bottom of the gown. "Okay, we'll make those changes and schedule another fitting. Okay, then…Serena it's your turn." The tailor said handing Serena her gown so that she could try it on.   
  
Serena stood in front of the mirror on a small pedestal as the tailor made some minor adjustments to her emerald green gown.   
  
"How's it look, Sis?" Serena asked when she noticed the distant look on Karen's face.   
  
"It looks great…" she replied a little despondent.   
  
"Karen? Are you okay?" Serena asked beginning to get concerned about her sister.   
  
"Serena…do remember when you lived in Canada…do you remember a woman named Kayla Preston?" Karen asked.   
  
"Kayla Preston…hmm…Yeah I do. She was dating Dad for a while. Around the time we moved back to Port Charles."   
  
"What was she like? I mean, was she nice? Were her and Dad really close?" Karen asked.   
  
"She was great. She was always really nice. Her and Dad went everywhere together. I often got the feeling that they were going to get married. But then we came here," Serena explained. "Why all these questions about Kayla?"   
  
"No reason. I met her a couple of days ago. She mentioned knowing Dad. I was just curious. Wow, the dress looks great. I think everything is going to be wonderful."   
  
"Yeah, until Dad sees you in that dress and begins crying like a baby," Serena said.   
  
"Yeah, right. I have never seen Dad shed a tear over anything."   
  
"Trust me, Karen. There will be a tear that day. As soon as he sees how beautiful you look, he is going to start with the mushy stuff. Oh my little girl…all grown up…how beautiful you look."   
  
"Serena, you're exaggerating."   
  
"Oh you think so…I can tell you, right now, what is going to be going through his mind. The reality of you getting married is going to hit him and he is going to start feeling depressed because he's going to begin to believe that now that you have Chris, you're not going to need him anymore. He is going to feel like he's loosing you. Typical father of the bride syndrome," Serena explained.   
  
Karen looked deep into her sister's eyes, "I never thought of it like that. I'm always going to need him, he's my Dad," Karen replied as she thought about what Serena said. She then stopped and looked at Serena with a skeptical look, "Are you 13 or a 33 year old shrink?"   
  
Serena laughed at her sister, "trust me, I'm 13, I just happen to know Dad really well."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
"Where's Mac?" Scott asked the clerk when he walked into the police station. The clerk pointed to Mac's office and Scott just walked right in.   
  
"Hey Scott…" Mac greeted when he saw him. "How are the wedding plans coming along?"   
  
"I don't know, that's all up to the girls and Rhonda…I'm just writing the check. So, who's this new man?"   
  
Mac reached into the basket on his desk and pulled out a file and handed it to Scott. "His name is…" Mac started when the phone rang. "Excuse me, a minute…Mac Scorpio."   
  
While Mac spoke on the phone, Scott looked over the personnel file. As he read through the file, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Is this some sort of a joke?" he asked Mac when he hung up the phone.   
  
"No Scott, he applied for the job and he got it. It's as simple as that." "   
  
"This man can not be the most qualified for this position," Scott argued.   
  
"Out of all of the applicants, yes he is the most qualified."   
  
"Well I don't want him around here. Re-advertise the position. Get new applicants."   
  
"Scott, you're just the DA. You don't have the hiring or firing power around here. This is the man that the city officials chose to hire. You're going to have to work with him, just like the rest of us. Whether you like it or not, he is going to a part of this team."   
  
"When is he starting?"   
  
"His first day is Monday." Mac replied.   
  
Scott threw the folder down on Mac's desk. "I want to see him, first thing Monday morning," Scott retorted before walking out of Mac's office slamming the door.   
  
"You got it," Mac said placing the file back in the basket. 


	4. Chapter 4

~*~ Chapter 4 ~*~   
  
~~~~~ Later that night ~~~~~~~   
  
"It's about time, you two got back, I was ready to send the search party out," Scott said with a grin when Karen and Serena walked through the door.   
  
"Search party, it's only 10 minutes after seven…" Karen retorted.   
  
"I know, but a dad can't be to careful, you know…" he said peeking in the bags that the girls carried in. "What did you do, buy out the mall?"   
  
"Hey, get out of there, it's just clothes…" Serena snapped at Scott as she grabbed the bags and took them to her room.   
  
"I was just looking to see if you brought me anything," Scott defended.   
  
"Yeah we did…we brought your credit card back," Karen said handing him the card.   
  
"Thanks, I'm sure there's a nice bill attached too."   
  
"Would you expect anything less?"   
  
"What did you buy her that she is being so secretive about?" he asked   
  
Taken aback by his line of questioning, Karen shot him a disgusted look before she answered with a poker straight face. "We didn't buy too much, I got her a couple of pair of fish net stockings, this really cool spiked dog collar…oh…and we found this really great tattoo place. Buy two get one half off. She got this really awesome tattoo of a dolphin on her right shoulder and I got Chris' name on my left breast. Wanna see?" She asked as she began to unbutton her blouse.   
  
"KAREN MARIE…" he yelled as he fumed over Karen's answer to his question. "I can't believe that you would…"   
  
"Scott, do you honestly think that I would do something like that? Quit being overprotective jerk dad for a minute and think about the things that I might have bought for a teenage girl that she doesn't want Dad to see!"   
  
Scott suddenly stopped in his tracks as the realization of what Karen had bought for Serena hit him. "Oh…I guess I didn't think about that."   
  
"No, I guess you didn't. Look, I know you are trying to raise a teenage girl on, what seems like, your own, and I can only imagine how hard that is for you. But you're not alone I'm here. Granted, I'm not her mother, but I am her sister and she can open up to me in a way that she can't to you. So," she said taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look her in the eyes, "just trust your daughters, okay?"   
  
"Okay," he said pulling her into a hug, "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you. You and Serena are thing two things that I did right in my life. So, why don't you help overprotective jerk dad set the table." He said with his arm around her as they walked to the Kitchen.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Chris was standing at the nurse's station finishing up the paper work that he had for the day, so exhausted that he could barely think straight. He completed his final thought and tossed the folder into the basket as Eve approached.   
  
"Chris, what are you still doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the firehouse for dinner?" she asked.   
  
"Actually, yes I am. I was in surgery for the last 10 hours. Complications with a heart valve replacement," he explained. "Oh man, I better call the firehouse to let them know that I'm on my way," he said picking up the phone to make the call. He just finished dialing the number when Kayla appeared from the hallway.   
  
"Dr. Ramsey, what the hell is going on here?" she shouted at him.   
  
"Dr. Preston, I assure you that I have no idea what you are talking about," he said hanging up the phone that he had just dialed.   
  
"A heart valve replacement, Dr. Ramsey. You were in surgery all day with Dr. Quartermaine. Why wasn't I brought in to assist with that surgery, especially since there were complications?" she continued refusing to lower her voice.   
  
"Dr. Preston, I was not the head surgeon on the case, I was only asked to assist. Which, I did. If you have a problem with the cases that you are involved in, then I suggest that you resolve that issue with Dr. Quartermaine. Since it is she that you are working under. Furthermore, you have no jurisdiction over me or my colleagues and I suggest that you keep your accusations to yourself," he retorted in defense then turning to Eve. "I'm not going to stand around here and listen to this drivel. I have a dinner to get to. Eve, could you do me a favor?"   
  
"Sure, Chris…" she said not taking her eye's off of Kayla. "What do you need?"   
  
"Could you check in on Mrs. Carter in 609 a couple of times while you're on duty. She always gets so lonely," he asked before quickly turning around to leave.   
  
"Sure, see you tomorrow Chris," Eve said as she leaned down on to the counter to get a little closer to Kayla. "You're not to smart are you?"   
  
"I beg your pardon…" Kayla replied shocked at Eve's question.   
  
"Around here, there are a couple of people that you should always suck up to, and then there are people who you should never make an enemy out of. And those two groups of people are all intertwined in some way or another. So until you figure out who is who around here, you might want to keep your mouth shut." Eve warned.   
  
"Is that some kind of a threat?"   
  
"No, not at all. Just consider it an advanced friendly warning." Eve said smiling as she walked away and left Kayla standing at the nurse's station to ponder her comment.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
"Hello…" Scott said as he answered the ringing telephone. "Oh, hey Chris. Everything okay?"   
  
"Yeah, everything is fine. I just left the hospital so I will be there shortly for dinner, I didn't want Karen to worry," he explained.   
  
"Okay, I'll tell her. Take your time, it's raining out there. Bye" Scott said hanging up.   
  
"Who was that?" Karen asked bringing plates into the dining room.   
  
"Oh…that was Chris. He just left the hospital, he'll be here soon." He said as he took the plates from her hands and placed them on the table. "I talked to your grandmother this afternoon."   
  
"Oh, good…did she tell you about he present?"   
  
"Present, what present?"   
  
"Aunt Ilene, sent a wedding present here. She didn't have my new address," Karen explained.   
  
"Oh, no…she didn't mention the present, but she did mention that you were asking her some questions about my time in Canada. Is there something bothering you that you want to ask me?" he asked with concern. "You know, you can talk to me about anything."   
  
"I know…But no, nothing is bothering me. I was finally formally introduced to Kayla at the hospital right before I stopped in to see Gail. Apparently, she is going to be working there for a couple of months under Monica Quartermaine. Which got me thinking about our dinner the other night…I started to wonder how close you two were back then and what things may have been like if you had gone back to Canada. That's all, nothing major…I was just letting my curiosity get the best of me."   
  
"Oh, I see…" Deep down Scott knew what this was all about. He knew that it upset Karen that Kayla took her to be his girlfriend and not his daughter and Karen was just fishing for the truth. "Are you sure this isn't about the fact that she thought that you were my girlfriend and not my daughter?"   
  
"No, it's not about that at all…" Karen lied.   
  
"Karen?" he said not believing her.   
  
"Okay, Okay…so that did bother me for a minute. I don't know why, I'm mean, it's not like we were a part of each other's lives or anything."   
  
"I was rather shocked at her assumptions, too, after I had told her so much about you and showed her your picture so many times." He replied.   
  
"Wait, my picture? You had a picture of me?" she asked in complete shock.   
  
"Of course, I did. You're mother had sent me your graduation picture and a wedding picture. I had them both on the mantle next to Serena's school picture."   
  
Karen couldn't help but to smile. All this time, she thought that his life in Canada was just about Serena. But then, maybe it wasn't after all. Maybe he just didn't know how to make the first step with her. "Do you still have them?"   
  
"Are you kidding me? Of course, I have them. They are upstairs. I have your graduation picture in my bedroom, I put your wedding picture in the cedar chest though," he admitted.   
  
Karen hurriedly went upstairs to Scott's bedroom. She had been in there many times and never noticed the picture. But when she entered the room, sure enough, her graduation picture was standing perfectly on top of his dresser. She stood there and just stared at the picture that she had seen a million times at her mothers and in her yearbook. But it never meant anything to her until she saw on her father's dresser.   
  
"Did you think I was lying?" Scott asked coming up from behind.   
  
"No," she said without taking her eyes off of the picture. "I just never knew."   
  
"Well, now you do," he said as they heard the front door open downstairs.   
  
"Hello, is anybody here?" Chris shouted when he didn't see anybody.   
  
Karen ran down to greet Chris and took the bag that he had carried in. "What's all this?" she asked peeking inside.   
  
"I just stopped by the bakery to pick up a fresh loaf of Italian bread and some Danishes for dessert."   
  
"Mmm…Danishes…trying to win over the old man, huh?" she asked with a sly smile then giving him a kiss.   
  
"If he keeps bringing things like that, it won't be too hard…" Scott interjected. "Dinner is ready, I'll bring it out. Karen, you want to run upstairs and get your sister?"   
  
"Sure," she said as Scott left the room then turning to Chris, "Are you okay? You look a bit rattled. Did everything go okay at the hospital?"   
  
"Yeah, everything is fine, I just had an unpleasant run in with Dr. Preston, before I left. That woman has some issues."   
  
"Tell me about it," she replied rolling her eyes, "she definitely rubs me the wrong way. What did she get on you about?"   
  
"She started laying into me because she wasn't included in the heart valve surgery. It wasn't my decision. I think she is trying to throw around weight that she doesn't have."   
  
"She's only going to be here for a couple of months. We should be able to survive that," Karen reasoned.   
  
"Well, I'm not going to let her bother me. I have better things to do," he said giving Karen a kiss then walking toward. "Go get your sister, I'm going to try to keep this a neutral war zone and give your dad a hand in there."   
  
Karen laughed and shook her head as she watched Chris go to the kitchen before leaving the room herself. 


	5. Chapter 5

~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~   
  
John stood in the office building catching his breath a minute before knocking on the door that read "Scott Baldwin District Attorney". He looked down at his feet and back up again before finally knocking.   
  
"Come in" he heard Scott grunt from the other side of the door.   
  
John slowly opened the door and walked in. "You wanted to see me?" Scott looked over the rims of his glasses and looked hard at John.   
  
"Yes, I did. Sit down." Scott said not taking his eyes off of him for a minute. "What are your plans?" Scott asked him.   
  
"Pardon me…"   
  
"What are your plans? Why are you here?" Scott asked him again.   
  
John knew exactly what he was talking about and he was just getting ready to answer him when the intercom buzzed. "Mr. Baldwin," the secretary said, "Mr. Lewis has question on today's case that he needs you to answer before the hearing."   
  
Scott shook his head in disgust, "Alright, I'm coming." He said turning off the speaker then looking at John, "Don't you move, I'm not finished with you."   
  
Scott walked out of the office leaving John alone to ponder what was coming next when Scott returned. Trying not to let his nerves take over, he got up and began to look around the room. He noticed pictures on a table behind Scott's desk and he moved closer to get a better look. He picked up a picture of Serena and Karen when suddenly he heard the door open behind him. He quickly set the picture down and turned to see who came in.   
  
"Hey," Karen said as she walked through the door with her head down as she looked through her bag for the papers that she was bringing her father. "I have the information that you need for this afternoon, to get fitted for your tux, and the invitations that you wanted" she explained as she walked over to Scott's desk still not looking up.   
  
"Karen!" John said when he turned and saw her.   
  
Hearing that familiar voice, Karen stopped in her tracks and looked up. As she stood there in complete shock, she dropped the papers that she had in her hand.   
  
"How are you?" he asked her trying to break the ice noticing that she wasn't saying anything.   
  
She finally took a step back and looked around quickly for her father. "What the hell are you doing here, Jagger?" she finally asked looking around the room again, "Where's my father?"   
  
"He stepped out for a minute."   
  
"What are you doing here? Why are you in my Father's office?" She asked him again with a raised voice.   
  
Jagger moved out from behind the desk and toward Karen. With each step closer, Karen took a step back as if she was almost afraid of him. "I decided to move back to Port Charles, I was just hired as the new detective at the PCPD," he explained. "I guess your father just found out that I was the one that was hired and he wanted to see me."   
  
Karen just stood there and stared at him as a mixture of emotions overtook her body. The last time that she had heard from him was when she received the letter that he wrote admitting his affair. There were so many things that she wanted to ask him, but the anger that she felt was blocking her.   
  
"You're looking well…" he started trying to engage in a friendly conversation.   
  
"Like you care," she shot back quickly.   
  
"Karen, I never stopped caring about you. You have to believe that."   
  
"I don't have to believe anything that you say. If you honestly cared about me, you never would have treated me the way that you did."   
  
He wanted to make her understand what he was going through back then; but Jagger could see the confusion and anger building up behind her eyes. Instead he tried a more gentle approach, "Listen, Karen…" he started as he moved closer to her "…maybe we could get together…"   
  
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted as he reached out to touch her shoulders. Scott, who was on his way back to his office, heard her shout. He quickly ran the rest of the way to his office just as Karen was running out. Not paying attention to where she was going, she ran straight into her father who immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she cried.   
  
Scott looked up at Jagger with anger flashing in his eyes. "What the hell did you do to her?" he shouted as he continued to hold her.   
  
Jagger didn't respond. He stood there watching Scott hold her and try to calm her down. He couldn't believe how much her life had changed since they were together. He remembered nights from their past when he was the only man in her life. Now, here she was, years later being comforted by the man that she had longed for, her father.   
  
"Calm down, sweetheart," Scott attempted. "Come on, let's get you a glass of water."   
  
"No, I'm okay, Dad, really" she replied pulling away from him and drying her eyes. "I just let my emotions get the best of me."   
  
"Are you sure?"   
  
"Yeah, I'm fine…" she said through her sniffles. "I brought by the information for your fitting this afternoon. I have to get back to the hospital, my break is almost over."   
  
"Okay, honey, are you sure that you're going to be okay?" Scott asked with concern.   
  
"I'll be fine, Dad. I'll call you later."   
  
"Okay," he said giving her a kiss on the cheek and hugging her again, tightly. " Have a good day at work."   
  
Karen returned the kiss and hug before turning to leave; never giving Jagger a second glance. Scott walked past Jagger into his office and sat down at the desk. "Get in here and close the door," He ordered out to him.   
  
"That is an example of what I didn't want to happen." Scott started. "I'm only going to tell you this once. Stay away from her. She is finally happy, with no thanks to you. She has finally made a life for herself and I'm not going to let you waltz in here and take that away from her. She has worked hard to overcome her past and that includes you. I don't know why you're back here, or what your plans are, but they better not include my daughter."   
  
"Look, Mr. Baldwin, I understand where you're coming from. And the reason that I came back to Port Charles is because I am tired of running. I'm tired of being on my own. I came back to be near my family, and whether you like it or not, Karen is a part of that family. Divorced or not."   
  
"No, she's not. You severed those family ties the minute you slept with another woman. And then you had the nerve to tell her in a letter. You're nothing but a coward. And so help me, if you so much as hurt in any way, you're going to have me to deal with, not her," Scott threatened, giving Jagger a deep, dark look. "I believe you can show yourself out. And just remember, I'm watching you, Cates!"   
  
Jagger got up and left without saying a word. He wanted to lay into Scott so many times for the way that he treated Karen years ago, but he knew that was not the way to start a new job. The more he thought about it, the angrier Jagger got. How dare Scott criticize him for the way he treated Karen, when Scott didn't treat her any better. But now it was abundantly clear, Karen now had a strong bond with her father and working with his ex-Father-in-law was going to be a lot harder than he had anticipated.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
At the hospital, Chris was walking down the hallway toward the elevator when he heard his name called from behind. He turned around to see Kayla walking rapidly towards him. Ignoring her, he turned back around and tapped on the elevator button.   
  
"Chris, wait, please." She said catching up to him. "Do you have a minute?"   
  
"No, I'm busy. I have patients to see," he replied with disgust.   
  
"Please, Chris, I just want to apologize. I was way out of line the other day," she admitted sincerely.   
  
"Yes, you were. Now if you'll excuse me…"   
  
"Chris…please…"   
  
"What do you want me to say? 'Hey, it's all right…you're new here. You were just taking out your frustration on the first person you saw!' Well forget it, Dr. Preston, you stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." He said as the elevator doors opened and an upset Karen walked off nearly knocking Chris over.   
  
"Karen, are you okay? You look like you're ready to burst into tears" He asked grabbing her arm and pulling off to the side.   
  
"I'm fine…" she said.   
  
"You don't look fine," he said and then smirked. "You were okay when you left to go see…oh…what did that idiot father of yours do this time?"   
  
"Chris, that's enough, my father didn't do anything. I'm just having a bad day."   
  
"I'm sorry…I'll tell you what…What do you say, we go out tonight for a early dinner at the grille, and then a nice drive out through the country to watch the sun set." He offered trying to make her feel a little better.   
  
"You know, that sounds wonderful."   
  
"Great, I'll pick you up at five." He smiled and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek just before he left to check on his patients. Karen smiled to herself as she walked over to the nurse's station to pick up the charts for her rounds.   
  
"Looks like the Barbie doll likes to play," Kayla said to herself as Karen approached.   
  
"Do you have a problem?" Karen shot at Kayla as she slammed her charts down on the counter.   
  
"I'm not the one with the problem, Barbie. You're the one who seems to have a problem with having a monogamous relationship."   
  
"A monogamous relationship? Listen, Dr. Preston, you don't know a damn thing about me; although, you should. So instead of standing here making snide comments about my relationships, maybe you should take a hard look at yourself and the relationships that you have had in the past. Especially your relationship with Scott, because you sure as hell never listened to a word he ever said to you."   
  
"What would you know about my relationship with Scott and where do you get off, speaking to me like that?"   
  
"No, Kayla, where do you? I know a lot more than you care to realize," Karen retorted as she walked away leaving Kayla standing there in awe.   
  
"There you go again…" Eve said with a laugh coming up on Kayla from behind.   
  
"Excuse me," Kayla said as she turned around and glared at Eve.   
  
"That's one of the ones that you don't want to make an enemy of." Eve replied.   
  
"Why, she's just a resident, what kind connections would she possibly have at this hospital," Kayla sarcastically snorted back at Eve.   
  
"Now, you see, answering that question would take away the fun of watching you dig yourself deeper and deeper into this hole that you're creating for yourself. Just keep in mind that that girl has more connections in this hospital than most people will ever have anywhere."   
  
"Well then, please, enlighten me, oh wise one…"   
  
"Uh uh ah…" Eve started waving her index finger. "You'll find out soon enough, if you keep acting like that." Eve finished being the third person in a matter of minutes to turn their back and walk away from Kayla.   
  
Kayla stood by the nurse's station for minute. By this time her blood was boiling. "What's so special about that little princess, anyway?" she asked herself as she finally left to meet Monica. 


	6. Chapter 6

~*~ Chapter 6 ~*~   
  
Jagger sat at the counter at Kelly's sipping a cup of coffee and staring at the newspaper. Although not actually reading the paper, his thoughts strayed to Karen. The look on her face when she saw him in her father's office was haunting him like a nightmare. He thought about the way Scott held her like a little girl afraid of a monster in the closest. Things were so much different for her now, so much better.   
  
"Somehow I thought I would find you here…" he heard a voice from behind him. He turned to see his sister behind him.   
  
"Gina…" he said with a smile as the got up to give her a hug. "Hey, want a cup of coffee?"   
  
"Sure" she said sitting down next to him. "So how was the first day?"   
  
"Well, it was okay until about 10:00. I had to go see the DA."   
  
"In trouble already, big brother?" she asked teasingly.   
  
"No, he wanted to warn me to stay away from Karen. But he was a little too late, because while he had stepped out of the office for a minute, Karen walked in. And let's just say that our first meeting since the divorce didn't go well."   
  
"Well, Jagger, did you think that it would?" Gina asked disbelievingly.   
  
"I didn't think that it would be as bad as it was. Gina, it was like she was afraid of me. It's like she thought I was going to hurt her or something."   
  
"Jagger, you ripped her heart out and mailed it to her federal express. And you just expected that she would understand. Now she is finally happy. She has her sister and her father in her life. She's getting married. Naturally, seeing you made her feel like all of that might go away."   
  
"Wait, she's getting married? To who?"   
  
"Jagger, are you listening to me?"   
  
"Yes, she's getting married. To who?" he asked again.   
  
"Chris Ramsey," she finally answered as she put her head down. "He's a doctor at the hospital." Gina looked at the solemn look on Jagger's face. "Jagger, she's moved on, you need to move on too. You can't keep living in the past. That's how you got in this situation in the first place." Gina stood up and placed her hand on her brother's shoulder, "Maybe Scott is right, maybe the best thing is to just leave her alone. Thanks for the coffee."   
  
As Jagger watched Gina leave the restaurant, he took a couple of bucks out of his pocket and threw it down on the counter. "I can't do that Gina, I've at least got to try to clear the air with her." He said to himself as he walked outside.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
"Hey Eve, have you seen Karen?" Scott said as he walked through the hospital doors immediately noticing Eve at the desk.   
  
"Hi Scott, how are you? It is a lovely day today," she replied.   
  
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, how are you today?" he said taking the hint.   
  
"Nope, too little too late." She smirked at him. "And, no. Karen's not here."   
  
"She's not? Hmm…"   
  
"Why, is something wrong?"   
  
"No, well at least I don't think so, I'm was just a little worried about her. She stopped by my office this morning and she was rather upset when she left. I just wanted to check on her. You know, make sure she was okay." He explained.   
  
"Well she looked okay to me when she left. She left early today, Chris was taking her out for a romantic evening."   
  
"Chris, huh? Well maybe he'll take her mind off of everything…"   
  
"Are you developing a soft spot for Chris?" Eve chastised.   
  
"No…it's more of a tolerance."   
  
"Well call her tomorrow, she's busy all night tonight." Eve said with a smirk as she walked away.   
  
"I don't even want to think about that…" he turned and yelled back to her as he noticed Kayla coming down the hallway.   
  
"Scott…what are you doing here?" she asked with a disgusted tone.   
  
"Ah, hey Kayla. Karen told me that you were working here for a couple of months, so I thought I would stop by, you know, say hi," he explained.   
  
"Oh yes, Karen, and how is she doing today. Did she clean you out yet?"   
  
"Kayla, that's enough. We need to get a couple of things straight. Here," he said handing her one of the wedding invitations that he had requested from Karen so that he could invite a few acquaintances.   
  
"Great, you can't call me in years, but you can invite me to your wedding to a floozy."   
  
"Just open it, Kayla…" he said getting frustrated with her.   
  
"Fine if it will make you go away, I'll open it." She took the envelope and tore it open pulling out the invitation from inside and began to read it.   
  
Ms. Rhonda Wexler   
  
And   
  
Mr. Scott Baldwin   
  
Request the honor of your presence   
  
At the marriage of their daughter   
  
Karen Marie   
  
To   
  
Dr. Christopher Ramsey   
  
On Saturday the fourteenth of August   
  
In the Versaille Room at the   
  
Port Charles Hotel at   
  
Two O'Clock pm.   
  
123 Charles Street   
  
Port Charles, New York   
  
"Oh my god…she's your daughter" she said in shock and embarrassment. "Oh Scott, I am so sorry."   
  
"You can bring guest if you like," he said as he turned and began to walk away.   
  
"Scott, wait…please." She pleaded running after him as he ignored her and kept walking.   
  
"Scott please, let me apologize."   
  
Scott stopped and quickly turned around. "I'm not the one that you need to apologize too. You had every right to treat me the way that you did, but not Karen. You wouldn't let me get a word in as you stood there and insulted my daughter. I was wrong to never call you once I found Serena and decided to stay in Port Charles. But Karen is the reason I stayed. I finally had both of my daughters in my life and I wasn't going to give that up. You just assumed that she was my new flame because of a ring that you saw on her finger."   
  
Eve came around the corner behind them, to pick up chart that she had forgotten, when she saw Kayla and Scott in a heated discussion. Eve stood there and watched them as she quickly realized exactly what Scott was explaining to her.   
  
"I am so sorry," her face turned bright red with embarrassment, "You always told me that you had another daughter in San Francisco, but I always assumed that she was younger. A little older than Serena."   
  
"Kayla, I told you she was going to medical school, did you think my daughter was Doogie Howser?" Scott asked in disbelief.   
  
"I guess I never really paid attention, I just developed a preconceived idea and never bothered to change it. Why didn't you tell me who she was in the first place?"   
  
"Kayla, I tried. You wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise!" he retorted. "I'll see you at the wedding." He turned and walked away from Kayla leaving her standing in the hallway embarrassed as Eve finally approached the desk to get the chart.   
  
"What do you want?" Kayla snapped at Eve when she finally saw her.   
  
"Nothing, just picking up chart that I had forgotten." Eve began to walk away again when she suddenly stopped and turned toward Kayla. "By the way, do you need a bigger shovel for that hole that you're digging?" she asked turning to leave again. 


	7. Chapter 7

~*~Chapter 7 ~*~   
  
Karen opened her apartment door and greeted her father and sister who were standing on the other side. "Hi guys, come in…"   
  
"Hey sis," Serena said plopping down on the couch and flipping on the television.   
  
"Hi…" Scott said looking around her apartment and noticing that things were spread everywhere, "are you moving out or something?" he asked as he looked inside a bag of clothes.   
  
"No," she said with a laugh as she began to clear a path to the kitchen, "I'm just doing a little spring cleaning, getting rid of excess junk, you know."   
  
"Hey, Kare, can I use you're phone to call Jesse? Dad wouldn't let me call from home."   
  
Karen looked at Scott for a second. She finally answered when he nodded in approval, "Sure, go ahead," she said looking back at Scott. Noticing that he was about to speak, she mouthed his words along with him.   
  
"Yeah, I want to talk to your sister anyway," he said frowning when he noticed Karen. "Am I that predictable?"   
  
"No, I just recognized the fatherly 'I want to talk to you' look on your face," she answered. "So is this going to be a short chat or should I put on a pot of coffee?"   
  
"I would love a cup of coffee." He said in reply.   
  
"Ah, I feel a lecture coming on," she mumbled to herself as she made the coffee.   
  
"No lecture," he said in defense, "I just want to know how you're doing? You know, make sure that you're okay. When you left my office the other day, you were rather upset."   
  
"Well, I have to admit that seeing Jagger in your office was not something that I expected. And I don't think that I really knew how to react. How long have you known that he was here in town?"   
  
"Well I had just found out myself. That's why I had asked to see him. I wanted to find out what his plans were before I came to you spouting off that he was in town."   
  
"Wanted to know his plans or warn him to stay away from me?" she asked with a skeptical look.   
  
Scott looked down at the floor unable to look Karen in the eye. She was his daughter and she knew exactly how he thought. But then a small smile crept over her face. "Scott, it's okay. I'm not going to throw away everything that I worked so hard for, just because my ex-husband moved back to town. Although, it feels good to know that I have you watching out for me. It gives me a secure feeling that I never had before." Scott finally looked up at her and smiled. "Just don't go overboard with the over protectiveness, there Dad," she finished sending him a distinct glare.   
  
"Of course not. So, have you told Chris that Jagger's back?" he asked.   
  
Karen sighed at Scott's question, "No…not yet. I'm stilling mulling over whether I should or not."   
  
"Well don't you think that you owe it to yourself and him to be honest? And, let him know what is going on?"   
  
"Yeah, but incase you haven't noticed, Chris reminds me a lot of my father and has a tendency to act irrationally when someone uninvited comes within the family boundaries, if you catch my meaning," she implied as she raised her eyebrows.   
  
"Yeah, I catch your meaning. I also heard you compare that lughead to me." he smirked.   
  
"Scott…"   
  
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just that I…I mean we, don't want to see you get hurt. That's all."   
  
"And I appreciate that. But I'm not going to get hurt. I won't let that happen. And as for Jagger, well, I'm not going to purposely seek him out but I can't very well avoid him either. We probably have things that we need to discuss anyway."   
  
"And Chris?"   
  
"Chris is another story. I'm definitely going to tell him. I just haven't figured out when and how."   
  
"Well," Scott said grabbing her chin and slightly shaking her head, "just remember, I'm here if you need me."   
  
"Thanks," she said with a smile as she watched him turn around to find Serena.   
  
"Serena, that's enough, get off of the phone now."   
  
Serena looked up at him with a frown then ended her conversation with Jesse. "Are you done lecturing Karen?" She asked hanging up the phone.   
  
"What is it with you girls? I want to have a simple discussion and you both decide that it's a lecture."   
  
"We're the kids, we're supposed to read into everything that our parents do," Karen said as she picked up the controllers to the video game console and handed one to Serena.   
  
"Hmmmph….Well you two enjoy your video games. I'll see you two tomorrow," he said giving the both a kiss on the head and walking to the door.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
"Hey, Chris…"   
  
"Hey Eve, what are you still doing here? Didn't you get off at 4:00?" Chris asked as Eve approached the Emergency Room desk although seemingly uninterested.   
  
"I'm pulling a double. It was between Karen and me but she already had plans with Serena. So, here I am." Eve explained.   
  
"Oh yeah, sister night. I forgot about that," Chris answered in a monotone voice.   
  
Eve eyed Chris watching him tap his pencil on the chart in front of him as he stared straight ahead. "Thinking about running away with the circus? Are you going to be a clown or a trapeze artist?" Chris just continued to stare blankly. "Chris?" Eve said waving her hand in front of his face "Chris, are you still with me?"   
  
Chris finally snapped out of his daze only to see Eve staring at him with concern. "What?" he snapped at her.   
  
"Chris, is everything okay? You seem awful melancholy" she replied.   
  
"Yeah, I just can't stop thinking about this girl that was brought in earlier. Fourteen years-old with never diagnosed Type 1 diabetes."   
  
"Never diagnosed? You make it sound like she should have been diagnosed years ago…"   
  
"She should have."   
  
"Chris, she's 14. It could have recently developed. Is there a history of diabetes in the family?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Well what were the conditions when she came in?"   
  
"Passed out at a school, complained of being tired and thirsty, blood sugar was above 400."   
  
"Sounds like you made the right call to me. But if you want, I can check her out and give you a second opinion." Eve offered.   
  
"Thanks, Eve, but I'll take care of it." He said looking down at the chart once more. "Ah…on second thought, two opinions are better than one. Maybe it can help put my mind at ease. Thanks, Eve. Her name is Shelby Campbell." He said as he handed Eve her chart and turning around to walk away. "I think I'm going to take a break."   
  
"Good you need it!" She yelled after him, as she opened Shelby's chart to get caught up on the case. As she read the chart, she didn't notice the man that had approached the desk.   
  
"Excuse me," Jagger said clearing his throat to get her attention.   
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Can I help you?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah…" he said holding out his hand that had a deep cut on it. "I cut myself fixing some broken floorboards at my house. I checked in at outpatient and they told me to come here."   
  
Eve looked at the cut on his hand and motioned towards exam room 3. "Right in here sir. I'm Dr. Lambert," she greeted, "when is the last time that you had a tetanus shot?" she asked getting the supplies that she needed to suture his hand.   
  
"John Cates," he returned before answering her question. "Five years ago, when I cut my leg at work."   
  
"Good…" she replied, "you won't need another one then."   
  
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but is Dr. Baldwin working?" he finally asked.   
  
"Dr. Baldwin is a psychiatrist, I hardly think that you would want her to suture your hand…"   
  
"No, the other Dr. Baldwin…" he said.   
  
Eve looked at him with a very questioning looking, "the other Dr. Baldwin….Oh, you mean Karen? She goes by Wexler these days. Well at least for a little while longer. But no, she's not on duty tonight. Why? Do you two know each other?"   
  
"We go way back. I just didn't realize that she was still going by her mother's name. I knew that she had become rather close with her father. And I just assumed…" he tried to explain without showing his embarrassment.   
  
"Well I can't begin to answer for Karen, but if you want my opinion, it's a pride thing. When she came here, she was wanted to make it on her own and not because she's a Baldwin. She wanted the world to see what Karen Wexler became, not Karen Baldwin. But it really didn't work out that way." Eve explained remembering back to the first night the interns met.   
  
"What do you mean?" Jagger asked.   
  
"Well, when we started our internship, we were held hostage, by a doctor who was dropped from the program. His goal was to find the person who pulled the strings to get his spot. It turned out to be Karen. Her Grandfather made arrangements for her to get the internship, to get her to come back home to Port Charles. And Cooper let everyone know it. So much for trying to keep a low profile."   
  
Jagger shook his head, "That's right, I remember her telling me about that night."   
  
"But it all worked out for the best. She is one of the best doctors here at GH." Eve said with a faint smile.   
  
"Does it surprise you? Coming out of that family, you're either a doctor or a lawyer."   
  
Eve laughed at his response, "You know, you're right. It'll be interesting to see which path Serena takes," she said finishing the stitches. "There you go. Clean it every day with peroxide and Neosporin. Come back in two weeks and we'll take the stitches out."   
  
Jagger got up and nodded. "Thanks Dr. Lambert, tell Karen I said 'hi' when you see her. Would ya?"   
  
"Sure thing…" Eve said. As she watched him leave, she couldn't help but to wonder why this man was so interested Karen. 


	8. Chapter 8

~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~   
  
Kayla was sitting at her desk doing some research on heart valve replacements, when she heard a faint knock at the door. She opened the door quickly to see Jagger standing there. "John, what are you doing here?" she asked trying to hide the surprised look that came across her face.   
  
"I'm sorry, I'm I interrupting something? I just thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to grab some dinner with me. But if you're too busy…"   
  
"No, no not at all. I'm just surprised to see you, that's all. I was just doing some research," she explained as she looked down and noticed his bandaged hand. "What happened?"   
  
Jagger lifted his hand and shrugged, "I just cut my hand replacing some floor boards…So, what about dinner? Recovery Room?"   
  
Kayla couldn't help but to smile, "Sounds good to me." She said as she grabbed her coat and purse.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Eve stood outside of a hospital room door, looking over Shelby's chart one more time. As she reread the chart, she shook her head wondering why Chris was so worried about this young girl. Forcing a smile on her face, she opened the door and entered the room. "I hear that someone in here tried to get out of gym class today," she said trying to add a bit of humor to the situation.   
  
"What?" Shelby asked as she sat up with a suddenly worried look on her face.   
  
"Relax," Eve said "I was just trying to lighten the mood a little bit. Hi, I'm Dr. Lambert."   
  
"What happened to Dr. Ramsey?" the young girl asked.   
  
"Dr. Ramsey had to see a few patients and he asked me to stop in to say hi. So 'hi.' How are you feeling this evening?" Eve asked sitting down next to the girl to take her pulse.   
  
"Tired…"   
  
"Are you sore or achy anywhere?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Overly Thirsty?"   
  
"No, I'm okay," Shelby said beginning to eye Eve. "Are you Dr. Ramsey's girlfriend."   
  
Eve suddenly looked up, "Nope, I can't lay claim to that position. His girlfriend is at home right now…probably playing video games with her little sister."   
  
"What's that for?" Shelby asked when she noticed a tiny needle that looked more like a thumbtack in Eve's hand.   
  
"Oh…this…I'm just going to prick your finger to get a blood sample to test your blood sugar. We want to make sure everything is okay." Eve explain.   
  
"Can't that be done somewhere other than my finger?"   
  
"Well, I only have the finger testers, but yes. We can prescribe the kit that you use on your arm instead." Eve said as she took the girls hand to get the sample. "Piano or guitar?"   
  
"Piano…" Shelby answered with amazement. "How did you know?"   
  
Eve made a small laugh. "Easy, you're worried about your fingers. Usually the only people who worried about their fingers are musicians…or hand models."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"So, we have here a 14 year-old pianist from Queens…" Eve said with a pathetic English accent.   
  
"From Queens?" Shelby asked putting her eyebrows together in confusion.   
  
"It was a joke. You know, like a piano playing prodigy found in the most unexpected location?" Eve could tell that the young girl still didn't get her sense of humor. "Oh, never mind. I don't even know what I'm talking about."   
  
"Your really nice…and funny. Not your typical doctor."   
  
"Sounds like you've ran into my kind before. And it hasn't been a pleasant experience…"   
  
"Yeah, when I was little. I spent a couple of weeks in a hospital. I really hated it."   
  
"Oh, yeah…What were you in the hospital for?" Eve questioned.   
  
"Well, I got sick from my cat, Secret."   
  
"Secret? What a cool name for a cat."   
  
"Yeah, I loved her to death. Anyway it was my job to change the litter box and I did. But my cat was carrying some kind of disease and when I cleaned the litter box, I contracted the disease. So I got to stay in the hospital for a while. But I got better. After that, my mom started to make me take vitamins everyday. She said I got sick because my immune system was weak because I wasn't getting enough Vitamin C."   
  
"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Now all we have to do is get the diabetes under control and you'll be good to go." Eve said with confidence to try to make the girl feel better.   
  
"Can't you just give the cure and send me home?" she asked.   
  
"Unfortunately, I don't know the members of The Cure, but I think they're kind of a weird band anyway." Eve joked again smiling. "But seriously, we can only control diabetes, there isn't a cure yet. But they're working on it."   
  
"Yeah, they're working on it…" Shelby repeated with disgust.   
  
"Hey," Eve said lifting the girls chin "diabetes is a very controllable and very livable disease. Okay?"   
  
"Okay, Dr. Lambert." She said smiling.   
  
"Okay…Well I have to get going. I'll stop by later on to see how you're doing." Eve got up and left the room. After making her notes on Shelby's chart, she put the folder in the basket hanging on the door. "Leptospirosis" she whispered to herself as she walked away.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
"So how's the research coming along?" Jagger asked Kayla as they enjoyed their light dinner.   
  
"Let's put it this way," she said with a smirk, "I am beginning to rethink my decision of becoming a Cardiac Surgeon."   
  
"That good, huh?"   
  
"Monica is a tough cookie to work for." She said in an almost complaining tone.   
  
"But, she's the best. I know my ex-wife really looked up to her and Alan."   
  
"You're right. I have to give her credit. She is top notch," Kayla said in agreement. "Did you ever notice…that all you and I ever do together is eat?"   
  
Jagger gave a small laugh to her comment, "It's seems to be all that we have time for. And everyone has to eat. But since you brought it up, what to you say that next time we do something else too?"   
  
"You've got my attention. Like what?"   
  
Jagger thought for a minute then finally blurted out, "How about cosmic bowling?"   
  
"What, is cosmic bowling?" she asked.   
  
"You've never been cosmic bowling?"   
  
"I haven't been bowling, period, cosmic or otherwise, in about 15 years. It's not my best game."   
  
"We'll have to fix that…Cosmic bowling is really the same as regular bowling, with the exception that you do it in the dark," he explained.   
  
"How do you bowl in the dark. You'd never find the lanes."   
  
"We'll it's not really completely dark. There are neon lights around the bowling alley and the ball and pins glow under the neon lights. So, how about Saturday night?" he asked.   
  
"Oooo, sorry, I have to work Saturday night."   
  
"At midnight?"   
  
"Wait, this is at midnight?" she asked amazed.   
  
"Yeah, midnight or later. It's the best time to cosmic bowl."   
  
"Well, in that case, yes. I happen to be free at Midnight on Saturday."   
  
"Great, I'll pick you up at the hospital then."   
  
"Sounds terrific. Saturday it is. Midnight," she confirmed, "so what are your plans for tonight? Since it looks like fixing the floorboards are now out of the question."   
  
"I don't know. Maybe I'll go catch a movie or something. Would you like to join me?"   
  
"No, thank you," she replied, "I really have to get back to the hospital. I have to have this report ready for Monica by tomorrow afternoon."   
  
"Well, let me a least walk you back to the hospital…"   
  
"That's okay, you better get to your movie," she said smiling at him, "it's only across the street."   
  
"Are you sure?"   
  
"I'm positive, maybe I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for dinner."   
  
"No, thank you." He replied as he watched her leave the Recovery room. He sat back and finished his drink still watching the door, when Chris walked in and toward the bar.   
  
"Hey, pick up for Dr. Ramsey" Jagger overhead Chris say to the waitress.   
  
"Sure, Frank will have it out in a minute." She answered.   
  
As Chris waited for his food, Jagger got up from the table and sat down on a stool at the bar. He looked Chris up and down for a minute before ordering a beer from the waitress.   
  
"Here, Ramsey…" Frank said as set a paper bag on the counter. "That's $5.49."   
  
"Pleasant as always, I see…" Chris said pulling the money out of his wallet. "Is it right this time?"   
  
"Yeah, but only because I didn't make it."   
  
"Thanks, Scanlon. It's been a pleasure." Chris said as he left with the food.   
  
"What a jerk…" Frank whispered to himself and Jagger took that as his opening.   
  
"Is that guy always that way?" Jagger asked of Frank.   
  
"What way? You mean rude beyond belief? Yeah, he is. He's probably the biggest jerk in Port Charles. Why, you know him?" Frank asked.   
  
"No, no…I've seen him around. This is just the first time that I've seen him without the girl on his arm." Jagger said hinting around for some information.   
  
"Girl?"   
  
"Yeah, long brownish red hair, brown eyes."   
  
"Oh, you must have seen him with Karen. His fiancé. Man I don't know what she sees in him. A sweet girl like her getting mixed up with a con artist like him."   
  
"You think Karen can do better, I take it?" Jagger probed.   
  
"Oh definitely. Anything is better than that snake, and the sooner she realizes it, the better off she'll be," Frank said looking at Jagger's half full mug of beer. "Another beer?"   
  
"Ah, no. Thanks. I need to get going. But hey, maybe someday she'll see the light right?" he said laying the money down on the counter for dinner and the beer as he headed for the door. 


	9. Chapter 9

~*~ Chapter 9 ~*~  
  
Chris sat at the table in the on-call room, staring at his food. He picked up his sandwich to take a bite but threw it back down again. It was obvious that something was weighing on his mind. He was worried that he was missing something with Shelby's case, although there was no indication of any other conditions.   
  
"Of course, the last place that I look..." Eve said throwing up her arms as she bolted through the door. "Why aren't you eating? That's a perfectly good pastrami on rye."  
  
"Eve, did you have a purpose for coming in here? Other than to bother me?" Chris snapped back. He really wasn't in the mood to hear any of her famous sarcastic comments.  
  
Eve sat down next to him and tossed Shelby's chart on the table. "I checked on her while you where out. She seems like a good kid. Anyway, everything looks okay to me. She was alert, she had more energy, she wasn't complaining about any aches or pains, and her blood sugar level was perfect. She did indicate that she would rather test her blood sugar on her arm, though. She's a piano player."  
  
Chris picked up the folder and read Eve's notes. "Thanks, Eve. Your opinion helps. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something."  
  
"Well, I don't think that you are missing anything. But just to be sure, maybe you should run a test for Leptospirosis."  
  
"Leptospirosis? Why would I want to run a test for that?"  
  
"Well while we were talking, she mentioned being hospitalized when she was younger. She said that her cat had a disease that she contracted when she cleaned out the litter box. Now, I don't want to tell you what to do, but I would contact her former pediatrician for her medical records and run the test for Leptospirosis. Just on the off chance that she may be relapsing or contracted it again. Although I don't see any sign of the symptoms."  
  
Chris closed the folder and set it back on the table. "Thanks, Eve. I'll take it from here," he said as he took a bite from his sandwich. "I appreciate your help."  
  
"Anytime," she replied as she got up turned toward the door, "I better get back out on the floor."  
  
After Eve left, Chris read over the chart one more time. As he reached the end of the notes, he made another small note to call her parents to get the rest of her medical records.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Scott rang the doorbell to the lighthouse for a second time. After finally determining that no one was there, he turned to leave. Suddenly, he heard the door thrust open and he quickly turned around to see Lucy standing there.  
  
"Hey pal...what's up? I didn't expect to see you here today..." she greeted.  
  
"Oh, hey Luce. I was just in the neighborhood and I thought that I would stop by. Am I interrupting something?"  
  
"No, not at all. I was on the phone with my advertising director and Kevin is in his office. He's working on some kind of boring article or something. Please come in. Can I get you some coffee? Where's Serena? Is she with you?"  
  
Scott shook his head as he entered the living room, "same ol' Lucy" he thought to him self. "Sure, I'll have a cup of coffee. Serena is at Karen's tonight. They're spending the weekend together. I was on my way home from dropping her off, but then I decided I really didn't feel like going home and being alone tonight."  
  
Lucy handed him his coffee and sat down next to him, "Alright, what is it?"  
  
"What is what?"  
  
"Come on, Scott. I know you better than you know yourself. What's bothering you? Is everything going okay with the wedding?"  
  
"You know, you're just as bad as the girls...You always seem to think that you know what's going through my head."  
  
"Okay, now I know some thing is bothering you. Just spill it, would ya?" Lucy prodded in the hopes of getting him to open up. "Did something happen to Serena?"  
  
"No, no...Serena's fine."  
  
"Ah...so then it's Karen."  
  
"What makes you think it's Karen?" he asked thinking that he could hide his emotions.  
  
"Because you only get that look on your face for two reasons...Serena or Karen," Kevin interjected as he entered the living room.   
  
"Oh great, now, you're going to go through this psycho-babble with me?" Scott started.  
  
"Let's face it, Scott. You didn't come over here just for a cup of coffee. You could've gotten that at Kelly's."  
  
"I don't know why I'm letting it bother me," Scott finally admitted to Lucy and Kevin.  
  
"What are you letting bother you?" Lucy asked confused. She didn't understand what he was trying to get at.  
  
Scott looked at Kevin and then back to Lucy, "Jagger's back in town," he answered simply.  
  
"So why is that bothering you?" Kevin asked trying to determine if there was really a problem or if it was just Scott's normal fatherly over-reaction.  
  
"Why is it bothering me?" Scott repeated in a raised voice, "it's bothering me because she nearly threw her life away for this jerk once. And now that he's back in town, I'll be damned if I'm going to let her fall into his trap again."  
  
"Ah, I see," Kevin said. "Does Karen know that he is back?"  
  
"Yeah..." he answered with a disgusted tone. "She ran into him the other day in my office. I called him into my office the other day to talk to him, but then my secretary had a question. When I stepped out for that minute, Karen came in. Neither one of them will admit what happened, but Karen ran out of my office in tears. It's everything that I could do to keep from ripping his head off."  
  
Lucy looked at Scott with a puzzled look, "What do you mean by, neither one of them will admit what happened?"  
  
"Well, Jagger says that he just tried to talk to her. And Karen won't tell me anything. She just says the she was shocked to see him and she let her emotions take over," he explained.  
  
"Well, Scott, maybe that's all that it was. Maybe you're just so distrusting that you expected something else to happen. And Karen's reaction to the shock of seeing Jagger in your office just made your conclusion more concrete."  
  
"Are you accusing me of not trusting my daughter?" Scott asked defensively.  
  
"No, I'm saying that Jagger is the one that you don't trust. He hurt your daughter once, and now you've decided that, that is all he will ever do to Karen; is hurt her," Kevin explained.  
  
Scott put his head down and listened to what Kevin was saying. "Scott, Karen is more in tune with her past than anybody. She remembers the pain and the anger. She's going to be more on the defensive than anyone. She knows what she had wanted and she knows what she had gotten. She knows what she had to work for and how hard she had to work. She won't just throw it away. She's too much like you."  
  
"Scott, Doc is right. You don't see her hanging out with Sonny Corinthos, do you? And I know that they have run into one another on more than one occasion."  
  
"Don't even got here, Lucy!" Scott grunted.   
  
"Not helping, Lucy," Kevin said to get her to shut up. "Scott, just give Karen the benefit of the doubt, okay?"  
  
"Maybe your right. Maybe I am just reading into this. Well thanks for the coffee. I think I'm going to go home and catch the rest of the bonanza marathon."  
  
Scott left the lighthouse and stopped short on the doorstep. His thoughts of Karen running out of his office came flooding back to him as he remember what Kevin had said. He took a deep breath and sighed, "do you ever stop worrying about your kids?" he asked himself as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair and headed to his truck.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena jumped up to answer the door, when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly looked around the room for Karen before she opened the door. "Hello..." she greeted to a man holding a bouquet of flowers in front of his face.  
  
"For you, beautiful..." the man said holding out the flowers with his eyes closed.  
  
"Thanks, but my dad told me to never accept things from strangers."  
  
Hearing that remark, Jagger quickly opened his eyes and looked down at Serena. "Oh," he said looking at the number on the apartment door to make sure he had the right place.   
  
"I'm sorry, I must have the wrong place. I was looking for Karen. Karen Wexler," he explained still in shock and a little embarrassed.  
  
"No, you have the right place. Karen's my sister. And you are?"  
  
"Your sister?" he questioned. "Oh, you must be Serena..."  
  
"Great you know who I am, but who are you?" she asked again.  
  
"Oh, right, I'm..."  
  
"Serena, who was at the door?" Karen asked entering the living room.  
  
"I don't know he hasn't given me a name yet," she answered.  
  
Upon hearing Karen's voice, Jagger stepped around Serena and entered into the living room. Standing in front of him was Karen in long bathrobe and towel wrapped around her head. "Hey," he said as he held out the flowers.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Karen asked in a snip. Serena just looked at her sister then took a seat on the couch, she still didn't know who this guy was but by reception that he received from Karen, she wasn't about to miss the show.  
  
"I thought that maybe we could go get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie at Kelly's. You know, just sit down and talk. We have a lot to talk about. Don't you think?" he asked.  
  
"What I think is that I have nothing to say to you. You have no business being here. Now if you would please leave..." she said moving to open the door for him.  
  
"Please, Karen," he begged. "We need to work this out."  
  
"There is nothing to work out. And I'm not going to ask you again. Please leave." She demanded.  
  
Jagger hung his head in defeat then looked over to Serena who was intently staring at them. "At least take the flowers." He said holding them out to her. Karen took the flowers out of his hands as he walk out of the door. Closing the door behind him, she walked over to the window and threw flowers out onto the sidewalk where they landed at Jaggers feet. He picked up the flowers and peeked in the window to see Serena talking to Karen. "Wow...that was brutal..." Serena said, "who was that, anyway?"  
  
Karen shot a disgusted glare at her sister and walked back to the bathroom to get dressed. "Just nevermind," she said before closing the bathroom door.  
  
Serena jumped at the sound of the door slamming. Just then she noticed Jagger standing outside of the window and finally turning away. She quickly got up and ran to the door to catch him. Once out on the sidewalk, she called to out him "Hey...hey you...come back here a minute."  
  
Jagger turned around to see Serena waving to him. Reluctantly, he turned and walked back to her. "What?"  
  
"Who are you?" she asked him for a third time.  
  
"You really don't know me?" he asked Serena as she just shook her head. "I'm Jagger," he finally said.  
  
"Jagger? As in my ex-Brother-in-law Jagger?"  
  
"Yeah, that would be me."  
  
"I've heard a lot about you. Most of it from my dad...and not good." She said.  
  
"Gee, thanks for boosting my confidence," he said turning around and beginning to walk away.  
  
"You know she's about to get married, don't you?" she called out to him again getting him to turn around.  
  
"Yeah, so I've heard," he replied beginning to walk away again.  
  
"So, what do you want from her?" Serena asked.  
  
Jagger stopped and turned. He looked at Serena for a minute then walked up to her. "I just want to talk. I don't want us to be enemies."  
  
"Well then, maybe you shouldn't give up so easy. Trust me. I know my sister and if you keep trying she'll give in," Serena said plucking the flowers out of his hand. "I'd better get back inside before she realizes that I came after you."  
  
Serena went back into the apartment as Jagger stood on the doorstep right outside of the window. Just was he went to walk away, he heard Karen and Serena talking.  
  
"Serena, did you just go outside?" Karen asked.  
  
Serena looked at the window and saw Jagger standing there. She smiled to him for a second then turned to her sister. "Yeah, I went to get the flowers. No sense in wasting perfectly good flowers."  
  
"Serena, I don't want those. Get rid of them."  
  
"Oh, Karen, just shut up an put them in a vase. And no, he wasn't out there. He was gone."  
  
Jagger shook his head as he walked down the sidewalk, away from the apartment. Serena set the flowers on the table behind the couch and picked up a magazine although paying more attention to Karen's reflection on the television. She intently watched Karen as she slowly walked over to the flowers and picked them up. Serena then smiled to herself when she heard Karen running water into the vase that her grandmother had given to her. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Karen sat on the chair in the dark as she flipped through the channels on the television. It was going on midnight and Chris still wasn't home from the hospital. She glanced over at Serena who had fallen asleep on the couch. As she watched her sister sleep, she thought about how good it felt to have Serena and even Scott in her life. Thoughts of how much her life had changed quickly strayed to thoughts of her life before she met her father and sister. There was a time in her life that she thought that the only person that would ever be there for her was Jagger. They understood each other. They each knew what it was like to be on your own. She smiled to herself when Serena sighed and rolled over. Slowly Karen got up and retrieved a blanket to drape over her little sister. "I love you, sis," she whispered as she leaned down and gently kissed her forehead just as the front door opened and Chris entered.

"Hey," she smiled as he walked through the door, "you're home late, rough night at the hospital?"

Chris took off his coat and hung it in the closet, "You could say that, I guess. I've been working on this case that came into today. A fourteen-year-old girl was brought into the ER. She passed out at school her blood sugar was over 400. I diagnosed her with Type 1 Diabetes. I got her stabilized and on the proper meds, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something."

"Is she showing any other questionable symptoms?" She asked as she followed Chris to the kitchen.

"No, she's not. Is there any coffee?"

"No but, I can make a pot.

"That's okay, I'll make a cup of tea. But, no, there is no sign of anything else. I reviewed all of her medical records and everything looks okay. She does have a history of Leptospirosis, but that's long gone."

"Well did you get a consult from anyone else?"

"Yeah, Eve. She could find anything either."

"Well, then, maybe you're just worrying yourself over nothing," she said as she put her arms around him from behind squeezing him gently.

"You're probably right." He turned and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he finished making his tea and dropping the subject. He picked up the paper from the counter and walked to the living room. Glancing down at Serena, he smiled, "Munchkinbutt's asleep, huh?" he asked. He looked up at Karen and noticed the flowers. "Where'd the flowers come from?"

Karen didn't want to tell Chris about Jagger. She didn't feel that it was the right time. As she looked at the flowers, she quickly came up with a believable white lie, "I bought those from the street vendor outside of the hospital. I thought that some fresh flowers would be a refreshing change."

With no reason to question Karen's response to his question, he sat down on the chair to read the paper. Not realizing how tired he actually was, Chris fell asleep immediately. Karen took off his shoes and propped his feet and covered him with a blanket. Before retiring to bed herself, she looked at the flowers one last time. A small envelope that was tucked deep in side the bouquet caught her eye. She carefully pulled the envelope from the flowers and read the card. Written on the card was a phone number. Under the phone number is said, "please just give me a chance to say I'm sorry."

She read the note to herself three or four times before she finally decided to tear it up. Just as she began to rip it, she stopped. She looked at it once more and instead of tearing it, she slid it into her pocket.

"Well, Well, Well, look who we have here," Scott said as he, Kevin, and Lucy entered the recovery room.

Jagger was sitting at the corner of the bar sipping on a beer, when he noticed and heard Scott walking toward him. "Great," he thought to himself "I got mauled over by one Baldwin today and here comes the leader of the pack to finish the job." Jagger looked up at Scott and nodded, "Evening Mr. Baldwin."

"What brings you to this hole in the wall?" Scott asked, "drowning away your troubles? What's with the hand? Looking for a reason to go to the hospital to see Karen?"

Jagger looked down at his hand and thought back to his conversation with Eve, "I cut my hand on my saw at home replacing a floor board," he replied dryly.

"Ah...I see" Scott said turning to Frank who was behind the bar. "Hey Frank, can we get a couple of menus?" he asked. Frank nodded then handed him the menus. Scott turned from the bar and headed for his table, seemingly ignoring Jagger.

Jagger took another drink of his beer as he cocked his head to the side and watched Scott, Kevin, and Lucy laughing and conversing at their table as they ordered their food. Slowly, he got up from his bar stool and staggered towards their table. He quickly grabbed the extra chair and spun it around to sit on it backwards inviting himself to join them.

"How'd you do it?" Jagger suddenly asked swinging his arm in Scott's direction as the three just stared at him.

"What?"

"How'd you do it?" Jagger asked again, this time a little louder as his drunkenness was turned to anger.

"How'd I do what?" Scott snapped back.

"How did you get Karen to hate me as much as she does?"

"If Karen hates you, it isn't because of anything that I have said or done. You earned that gold star all on your own."

"When she left San Francisco, she loved me. Then she found you...you...you turned her against me," he shouted in obvious blame. "Once you came into her life, no one else mattered anymore."

"She came back here because you had already left her. She was so distraught and upset when she got here, that she blamed herself for everything that was happening. She was ready to throw away everything that she had worked so hard to achieve and run back to you."

"And you just left well enough alone, right?"

"As a matter of fact, there, slim, You have her to thank for that. I was already booked on the next flight to California. She asked me to let her handle it and so I did. And, I have to say that I'm proud of her and the decisions she has made."

"Yeah..." Jagger grunted, "I'm sure that you had plenty of influence on her decision to divorce me."

"You were the one who first mentioned divorce..." Scott started but was interrupted by Kevin. 

"Sometimes you've got to let the house fall, Jagger," Kevin said trying to put a calmer twist on the squabble between Scott and Jagger.

"What?" Jagger asked turning his drunken attention to Kevin.

"Blaspheme all you want, Jagger, because when everybody's breaking vows, everyone is broken."

"Speak English, there, doc."

"It's seems quite clear to me, but let's try this...You screwed up. You broke all trust. You walked all over her and now you expect her to forgive you, like a little boy who lied to his mommy. Now you're feeling lonely, so you call all of your friends that you left when you were cocky and you thought you wouldn't need them. Everyone's pretending they can't see through you and you think you got away with murder, but everyone knows how and in which room. You think everyone's forgiven and forgotten, but they all remember you."

Jagger hung his head as the thought about Kevin's words and how right he was. He began to shake his head before he finally looked up and into Scott's eyes instead of Kevin's "You don't know a damn thing about me!" he shouted as he got up and walked back to the bar a little more sober.

Scott got up from the table and walked over to the bar next to Jagger. He unclipped Jagger's keys from his belt and handed them to Frank. "Don't let him leave like this, put him on the cot in the back," Scott said. Frank looked at Jagger and nodded as he took the keys from Scott and tossed them in the safe behind the bar. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chris and Eve walked out of the Emergency Room together exhausted and shedding their blood stained operating sheath that they had on over the scrubs. "Good work in there doctor," Eve said to Chris as they stood at the desk to finish the paperwork.

"Me? If you wouldn't have found that bleeder, that man would be dead right now," Chris said returning the compliment.

"It was a miracle that I even saw it. All of the damage seemed to be in the entrance area, that bullet must have just nicked that artery on exit."

"Well, in any case, it was a good call. So, are you going with us, tonight?" he asked after he finished the chart and handed it to Eve to sign.

"Are you kidding? After a day like today, I can't wait to get out of here and unwind a little. What about Jack? Is he going?"

"Yeah," Chris answered, "He said he would meet us there. He was working until 8:00 so he said he would meet us around 9 or so."

"Good, I think he needs to get out just as much as we do..." she began but was interrupted by the elevator door opening and Karen and Serena coming in arguing with each other.

"Serena, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't know what time Dad is picking you up?" Karen said shaking her head and walking toward the desk. "Hey, guys?" she greeted to Chris and Eve.

"Hey, Karen..." Eve returned. "What's going on?"

"You mean, other than me wondering why I ever wanted a little sister?" Karen answered shooting a glare at Serena.

Chris and Eve both let out a small chuckle. "Everyone needs a younger sibling..." Chris started but stopped suddenly noticing the evil glare that Karen was now giving him.

"I don't even know why I have to do this today..." Serena grumbled.

Karen sighed at the comment the suddenly turned toward Serena. "Serena, ask Dad. He's the one that told me to pick you up and bring you here. He said he would pick you when your volunteer shift was over. Now if you want to know when that is, then go up to the pediatric AIDs wing and look at the schedule."

"Geez, why are you so crabby today?" Serena asked then looking to Chris and Eve. "What did you guys do to her today?"

"Serena, don't you have something to do?" Karen started as Gail approached the two of them.

"Wow, and I thought I needed a night out," Eve commented as she walked away letting the two sisters bicker.

"Karen, Serena, is everything okay here?" Gail asked when she noticed them arguing.

Karen crossed her arms and gave a Serena smirk. Serena squinted her eyes as she looked at Karen and shook her head. "Yeah, Grandma, everything is fine."

"Well, good," Gail said giving Serena a skeptical look. "Your father called, he said he would pick you up after his hearing. So why don't you quit pushing your sister's buttons and go upstairs and check in with Bobbie..." she suggested turning to Karen. "You want to talk about what's bothering you?"

Karen quickly looked up at Gail with a questioning look before looking over at Chris who was on the phone. "I'm fine, it was just a rough day…" Although Gail accepted Karen's answer, she knew better. "Stop by my office later…" Gail whispered into Karen's ear as she gave her granddaughter a hug.

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"You know, I have to admit, I actually had fun today," Kayla said to Jagger as they walked through the park carrying fishing gear, "I used to despise fishing."

"Well, it's even better when you actually catch something. But it was definitely a nice day off. I just wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow..."

"Come on, you're job isn't that bad. Beside, you love your job..."

"Yeah, I do, but I don't love seeing my ex-father-in-law everyday. And tomorrow is just going to be worse, after the other night at the Recovery Room."

"He isn't much of a person if he's going to hold that against you."

"You don't know my father-in-law..."

"Ex-father-in-law," Kayla reminded him.

'Yeah, right..." He said, "He won't hold it against me, but he sure as hell won't let the day go by without some kind of comment."

"By the way you talk about your ex-wife's family, it's no wonder your marriage didn't last; especially if she's anything like him."

"No, I can't blame him for our breakup, although I'll admit that I've tried. But my wife didn't really know her father when we were married. They've just recently become close. I guess he's making up for lost time," Jagger explained.

"Sounds like you still love her."

"Nah," he shrugged "it's more along the lines of, I'm letting the 'what ifs" bother me."

"What ifs can eat you alive..." she said turning to Jagger whose attention was diverted to crowd of people standing on the bridge. "What's going on?" she asked him.

Jagger took her hand and led her toward the crowd, "Come, on...it's the rubber ducky race."

"The what?"

"The rubber ducky race. Every year the chamber of commerce sponsors a rubber ducky race to raise money for the food bank. My parents used to bring me, my brother, and my sister every year," he explained with a smile as the sat down on the bank of the lake. "When my brother was about five, his only goal was to win the rubber ducky race."

"Did he obtain his goal?" She asked noticing the glint in his eye.

Suddenly he hung his head in sadness as he answered the question, "No. No he didn't."

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? I seem to have a habit of that these days."

"No. I was just thinking about my brother. He passed away a couple of years ago."

"Oh...I'm so sorry," she replied not knowing what else to say. "Were you two very close?" she finally asked.

Jagger sat in silence for a minute as he watched some of the rubber ducks float past before he finally answered, "No, not really. When my parents died, he and my sister were taken to a different foster home than I was. I couldn't stand where they placed me so I took off. I tried like hell to find them. It wasn't until I met my wife and a good friend of mine that things finally started to change. My wife talked me into to going back to school and my friend helped me find my brother. When we finally found him, it was too late."

"Why was it too, late?"

"Unknowingly, he had followed in my footsteps and took off from his foster family and was living on the streets for about a year. When I found him, he was working for Sonny Corinthos."

"The mob boss?" she asked.

"That's him. Anyway, while living on the street, he got mixed with this girl who was heavily into drugs. Although he wasn't doing drugs, he did contract HIV from her. By the time he finally got tested, it was already AIDS."

"Oh, John, I'm so sorry."

"We had a couple good years, there, at the end. I just wish that it could've been more, you know?"

Kayla nodded her head, as she looped her arm with his. Just as she laid her head on his shoulder, her pager began to beep. She let out a deep sigh as she looked at the number, "It's the hospital, I have to go."

"Come on, I'll drive you." Jagger offered.

"Okay thank you doctor, I will do that…" Karen stood by the nurse's desk patiently waiting for Chris to finish his call.

Chris waved his index finger in the air to indicating to Karen that he was almost finished…"sure…555-2865…I'll be waiting for it, Thank you." Chris cradled the phone and jotted down a few notes before turning to Karen. "I'm sorry, honey, that was Shelby Campbell's pediatrician."

"No, no, I understand…are we still on for tonight?" She asked.

"Of course, Eve and Jack are going to meet us there. I just have to finish my shift and check on a few things once I receive this fax."

"Okay, I'm going to stop by my grandmother's office for a minute, and then I'm going to run to the store. I'll meet you at home?"

"Ah…no…Just meet me at The Outback…" Chris replied as the studied the Shelby's chart a little more.

"Okay, you better be there…" she said with a playful grin and gave him a quick kiss before retreating down the hallway. Just as she disappeared from site Kayla stepped off of the elevator.

"Dr. Ramsey, I'm glad I caught you…"

Chris hesitated to turn around, "Dr. Preston, I wish I could say the same…"

"Dr. Ramsey, I just received some lab results and I could use a second opinion. Do you mind?" she asked.

"You know, Kayla, I'd love to but I have a patient that I need to see. Why don't you have Monica take a look. After all you are here to work with her…"

"Monica is out of town this weekend with her daughter, and I really do not want to keep this patient hanging until Monday. Please Chris, as a colleague?"

"Fine," he said accepting the file "I catch up with you in about an hour," he said as he walked away forgetting the fax that was just coming through.

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Gail didn't say a word to Karen as she handed her a bottle of water and sat down next to her on the sofa. Karen's posture was that of silence. She was slouched forward with her elbow resting on her knee and her fingers curled in front of her lips.

"It's been a while since we have sat down to catch up with each other," Gail started. "How have you been lately?"

She briefly shifted her eyes toward Gail to try to read her expression. Was this Dr. Baldwin or Grandma Gail that she was about to talk to? Karen let out a sigh and turned her head toward Gail without moving her hand from in front of her mouth. "I'm fine," she said as if finally relaxing a little bit, "I've just been very stressed lately."

"Care to tell me what has you all up in arms?"

"I don't need a therapy session if that's what you're thinking…" Karen interjected quickly.

"To be honest, I wasn't looking for anything more than girl talk with my granddaughter. But if there is something that you would like to talk about, you know I'm here for you."

"Like what?" Karen asked not sure what Gail was eluding too.

"Well for starters, you can tell me what was going on between you and Serena earlier."

"What about it, we were arguing. Sisters argue…" Karen replied defensively. "She was being a brat and I wasn't in the mood to deal with it."

"Don't you think that maybe she was just being a 13 year old?"

"No," Karen began to snap at her grandmother as Scott walk through the door. "I think this family caters to her too much. It won't kill her to spend a little time volunteering at the hospital and it certainly won't hurt her to see how people live in the real world."

"Karen," Scott cut in, "there is no reason for you to be speaking to your grandmother like that…"

Karen shot Scott a glare as she walked toward the door, "It's about time she realizes that not everyone is lucky enough to grow up with a loving father who happens to have a billion dollars in the bank."

"Karen Marie," Scott yelled as he began to run after her…

"Let her go, Scott," Gail said stopping him. "She's just blowing off some steam on someone that she knows will not hold it against her."

"Blowing off steam? Gail, that's more that just blowing off steam. I don't care how old she is, she has no right to talk to you like that."

Gail gave Scott an astounded look. "I have learned to dismiss it. After all she gets it honestly from her father," Gail retorted.

"What was all of this about anyway?" He asked regaining his composure.

"I don't know, really. She has been on edge for a couple of weeks. I was hoping that I could get her to open up to me a little," Gail explained. "I guess today was just bad timing."

"Well I'm going to get to the bottom of this," Scott said as he left Gail's office, "I'll call you later."


	12. Chapter 12

_a/n: It's been while, I know and I'm sorry. I'm changing the format a little bit. I am hoping to complete the story because I hate to leave a story incomplete. _

Karen sat at the bar twirling her cocktail straw with her thumb and index finger. She glanced at the clock above the bar, 10:20 pm. Where the hell was Chris? she wondered. He was supposed to meet her at the Outback over 2 hours ago. She turned her head to watch Eve and Jack on the dance floor. Neither one of them seemed to have a care in the world.

"May I buy you a drink?" she heard from that all too familiar voice. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"What are you doing here?" she asked turning around to come face to face with Jagger.

"I stopped by for a drink. What's your excuse?"

"Jagger, I don't want to get into this again. Just let it die. I did...a long time ago." She started to get up when he gently grabbed her arm.

"Please, Karen..." He nodded toward the dance floor. "One dance? " he asked flashing a smile revealing his dimples.

"Jagger...I..."

"Please..." he begged. Karen took a deep breath. "Fine, one dance."

Jagger lead her to the dance floor in an awkard silence. He was looking for just the right thing to say. "So you made it." He started. "You came back to Port Charles with your head held high."

"I came back for my grandparents," she said dryly. "My grandfather really wanted me to come home, and I had nothing to lose. You were already gone."

"I'm sorry, Karen. I lost sight of what was important I guess."

"No Jagger, you just reprioritized and I fell to the bottom of the list. So why did you come back to Port Charles? Feeling guilty?"

Jagger looked away briefly, "Do you want the truth?" She nodded looking him square in the eye. "Yes, I was feeling guilty. Among other things. When you left me, my world crumbled. So instead of trying to fix it, I turned all focus to my work. I took the cowards way out. I have missed you so much. But I didn't realize how much I missed you until I saw you in your father's office that day. I decided right then that I was going to make things right with you no matter what it took."

"The time to make things right between us is long gone, Jagger. I've moved on with my life and you are no longer a part of it. Chris and I are getting married. He loves me and respects me. Something that you've forgotten how to do."

"If he respects you so much, why were you sitting at the bar waiting for him? He's what, 2 hours late?"

Karen stopped dancing. She pushed away from Jagger just before smacking his face. "You no longer have the right to care," she screamed as she headed for the door. Jagger turned to follow her, but was stopped by Jack grabbing his arm.

"Let her cool off, man. Just let her go."


	13. Chapter 13

Scott stood in front of the mirror with his back strait, only moving when the tailor asked. In the mirror, he saw Karen behind him staring into space with a blank, yet with an almost worried, expression on her face. He watched her, not saying a word. He was trying to forecast what was going through her mind. It must have been a million things. Everything from the wedding to the hospital to chris and Jagger.

"Am I doing the right thing?" she asked, still staring into space.

"Are you asking me?" Scott replied.

"You are my father, right? The person that is supposed to give me guidance in my life?"

"I can't even guide myself. You should be talking to your mother or your grandmother."

"Yeah, like Mom is going to give me a nonbiased answer. She has always hated everyone that I have ever dated."

"Let me guess, we're talking about that nucklehead that you used to be married to?" he asked.

"Am I doing the right thing by marrying Chris? Things didn't work out who I had dreamed they would with Jagger. Or did I just give up too easily?"

"How often do dreams work out the way that we plan?" he asked her, with a note of sarcasism in his voice.

"Scott, why do you keep doing that? Why do you keep answering my questions with a question?"

"Because, you already know the answers. You're just letting the what if's make you miserable. And let me tell you, you've been miserable lately."

"Thanks..." she sneered. "I guess I was looking in the wrong place for a little support."

"Is support what you're after or are you looking for me to tell you what to do? Because, I learned a long time ago that you can't tell a woman what to do, especially a daughter."

"Chris has been so distant lately. You know, he didn't even come home last night. He's been at the hospital, Dr. Preston has dragged him into this research that she is doing and I don't trust her. She's always hanging around Jagger and now she is pulling Chris into her cluches."

"Well if you want my opinion, here it is. Don't let things eat at ya, kid. Kayla is going to be gone in a month. Just wait her out. She's gonna go back to Canada and be out of everyone's hair. Then Chris will turn back into himself. As for the nucklehead, clear the air with him. You're going to be much happier if you two talk it out and put it rest. But I can take care of him if you want?" Scott finished with bright smile.

"I didn't realize that my feelings for Jagger still ran so deep." She said flopping into chair at the tuxedo shop. "I thought that I was over him."

"Yeah, you thought that you were over him, but you haven't seen him since you left California. Everything was revealed and finalized by Air Express. You've got to bring closure to the relationship."

"Closure? It's not like you to use buzzwords, Scott."

"Yeah, well, It's not like me to wear monkey suits either but you bring the best out of me, there kiddo."

_A/N: The next couple of chapters are going to put an end to this story. I had a lot more planned, but I started writing it so long ago that I got into a slump and then lost my inspiration. I know it is not my best work, but as I stated before, I hate to leave a story incomplete. I hope you enjoyed it. I will be posting the end shortly. _


End file.
